Received Monday, February 1, 2010 - Rants and Warnings
Dear my stupid bosses, I am tired. I am tired of coming in every morning, and your daughter, having been up for at least an hour, sitting in a full wet diaper from the night before. I am tired of the dad saying he didn’t have a chance to change her yet, when I ask him about it. I am tired of coming in on Monday mornings and you all being out of diapers. I am tired of you sending me out to the store, with your daughter in a full diaper, to buy more diapers, because you didn’t realize you were low on diapers. I am tired of finding the sink full of dishes from the previous night just sitting there, waiting for me to put them in the dishwasher. I am tired of you being oblivious to what is going on around you. I am tired of you assuming I will take care of everything for you, specifically those things not related to caring for your child. I am tired.
Yeah, don't you love stupid parents- who can't take 5 minutes (after child goes to be for the evening) to put dishes in the sink, put the toys in the toybox, straighten up or run a load of laundry.
ReplyDeleteWAKE UP PARENTS!! WE are there for the children- child related chores- children's laundry, dishes after meals and picking up toys. Maybe some driving and errnads.
We are not there to clean up after you!!!!!!!! You are big- you can do it yourself!!!!!!!
OP, your last line oughta read "And I quit". That's an employer that will continue to take advantage of you. Find something that will be better for you! You deserve better!
ReplyDeleteIf you get to the end of your contract soon, negotiate in there that they'll be better prepared for Mondays!
On another thought, when my now 3 year old was in diapers I was neurotic about making sure I had a good stash of diapers for him! Anyone else?
Urgh thank you for posting this! This could be my life... except that I don't have the ability to go out and get diapers so I am stuck every time they don't listen to me when I warn them 3 days in advance that they are low on diapers!
ReplyDeleteThey also don't seem capable of emptying the garbage can and just allow it to over flow onto the ground... even though they are supposedly OCD about cleanliness and they can't stand it when there is one little bit of the house out of order!
I could also mention that I used to work at a daycare center and even daycare center parents do that crap with the diapers. Only difference is that when their kid is out of diapers they get charged for using center diapers as backups.
ReplyDeleteBoy do they bring in diapers quick!
If only they'd get the clue when we tell them days in advance...
this used to be my life. my best advice? stand up for yourself!
ReplyDeleteOh man I HATE when I get to work and the kids have clearly been up for at LEAST an hour (depending on my hours for the day) and the oldest is still in a SOAKING pull-up AND he wears underwear during the day! Plus I have to deal with the toddlers soaking diaper. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if some of these parents were at home for a week straight with their kids and no help. Would they even survive? (Clearly I know a lot more parents who are more than capable of caring for their kids but the bad ones really get me going!)
ReplyDeleteOr you got to love the ones who accuse YOU of using too many diapers and ask that you cut back on them because.. god forbid they have to buy some.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you bother asking the father about the diaper situation? Come to expect he isn't going to do his job as a parent, so you won't get frustrated. Also, next time they send you out on a Monday to buy diapers, buy enough to last a month or longer. And then explain you did it so they would have peace of mind that they won't run out.
ReplyDeleteAs for the dishes, stop doing them! It isn't your house, nor are they your dirty dishes. Only wash ones you use. If they pile up in the sink and get in the way, start stacking them on the counter. Why should you care if their house is disgusting? And if they ask why you didn't do the dishes, tell the truth! "I don't expect you to wash my dishes and so I don't see why I should be expected to wash yours." The only exception is if it is in the contract that you are supposed to do it.
If you don't stand up for yourself, no one else will. And if any boss has a problem with you doing so, then they really aren't someone who deserves to have a good employee.
Yeah... about the dishes... I don't care to be honest. I'm there I eat there, they're awesome people they work a lot and I understand they're tired. They're always willing to help me out in every way, etc etc etc. My boss tells me I don't have to do them, it's not my job and to just leave them there. But I do them because I can and I want to help them out. Not a big deal. I'm not washing them by hand.
ReplyDeleteBut they are very responsible with their daughter and always make sure everything is ready for me when I get there.
Vanessa, are you the OP? Because you've certainly changed your tune. You sure seem like you cared when you wrote your rant, and now you don't? Do you have a split personality?
ReplyDeleteAnnonymous...
ReplyDeleteThis too is JUST a job for us. Yes possibly a job that we love, but it is a job. Why should we have to put up with this from our employers? Could YOU do your job properly if the company you worked for didn't provide internet service etc? Nope, so how can we do our jobs if we don't have the proper materials.
And the dishes? That is just rude, it isn't part of our job to be cleaning your dirty dishes and them being left in the sink makes our jobs more challenging. Could you work productively if you had to work around a pile of dishes in your work station?
I think parents get so wrapped up in themselves that they forget that nannying is a job... just like yours is.
I could be you op. Why the hell can't my bosses be bothered to put their dishes in the empty dishwasher!?!? Are the extra two seconds it takes to open the dishwasher and close it after the dishes are deposited really that precious? Is it sooo much harder to put them in the dishwasher than to pile them in the sink? I run and unload the dishwasher for you every freeking day. Just take one step to the left and stick your dirty dishes into the magic machine that does the hard part for you...I mean me, instead of the sink! I have trained your children to do it, but somehow the horribly complex task of putting dishes into the dishwasher is just too hard for busy little you!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteIt is an issue of job description. If you need a nanny/housekeeper that is fine, make it clear when you hire her.
If you hire a professional nanny, her "actual work" is to care for your children. How would you feel if your employer expected you to clean up a mess he left in the company cafiteria?
I don't know if this would work today, but when I was a nanny/babysitter, I quoted two prices, one for childcare, and one for childcare/kitchen/ living room pick up. I always got the higher price, because Mom wanted to come home to a clean kitchen and a living room clean and cleared of toys. But I'm so old, even if you were keeping the children everyday, the nanny word just wasn't used. Today, if someone keeps a child for two hours, they are the nanny. That is so pretentious, in my mind. If someone is watching your children for two hours, they are the babysitter. You don't have a nanny.
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ReplyDeleteAnonymous:
ReplyDeleteUm, no one said anything about not changing a child's diaper. That would be horrible. What was being said was when parents are warned DAYS in advance that they are running low on diapers and still we find ourselves faced with a day or half a day without diapers because no one has bothered to pick up a new pack.
I know that everyone gets busy, but when you have children you can't be too busy to buy diapers for your child. As you said, making a child sit in a dirty or wet diaper is not healthy, but when you have two diapers to last you a day.... what can you do?
I once tied towels to my charge because I was left with ONE diaper to last the day. I always warn three days in advance that we are running low on diaper and then remind daily after that if they fail to pick them up.
I am sure you can see the annoyance in not having the materials needed to take proper care of the child in your charge.
If supplies are running low why not just say something to your employer? If we're almost out of pens in the office supply closet, I tell our office admin so she know to order more. I don't pout because she doesn't go in the closet every day to take inventory.
ReplyDeletePersonally I agree it's gross to run out of diapers, but my nanny gives my child lunch and often dinner during the week, I'm very happy when she gives me a heads up that I need to buy more fish sticks soon, or whatever. I don't expect my nanny to clean up my personal mess, but I do rely on her to communicate needs and thus make the household run more smoothly.
At my office job, I do my best to make my bosses' life easier even if that means stepping a little outside of my strict job description. I don't feel put-upon or enslaved, I'm just a good employee.
working parent -- did you actually read the rant or the comments? No one is talking about an isolated incident of running out of diapers because the parents weren't notified. The issue is when parents repeatedly disregard warnings from their nanny that the diapers are getting low.
ReplyDeleteDuh:
ReplyDeleteOf course Working Parent didn't read it. They don't have the time.
I have no problem changing an extra diaper. I have a problem that my charge has to wait at least an hour in a full diaper for me to arrive to change her, because her parents can't bother doing it. I do let them know when they are low on diapers, but they don't listen. This causes me to show up, get ready to change her, and discover they are out of diapers. I then have to beg them for some money to go buy some.
ReplyDeleteAs for the dishes. I have no problem doing the dishes we use. I have a problem showing up and finding dishes they didn't bother to put in the dishwasher from the night before. It isn't that hard to do. It takes, maybe 5 minutes.
Quit, quit, and quit.
ReplyDeleteI did.
I was in a similar and far worse situation. Parents never did their dishes or ANY housecleaning and they didn't hire anyone else to do it. Parents never fed their children more than crackers and peanut butter because they couldn't be bothered with the girls allergies. Parents wouldn't give their children baths more than once a week - sometimes less (i was told not to do this)... One of them didn't have her hair redone for 6 days while I was on vacation, I came back and it was still done from when I had done it before leaving.
These disgusting parents do not deserve great, caring, and hard working nannies. Quit. I found a new, amazing, wonderful family less than a week later and am now happily employed.
I think this is too much! Probably,
ReplyDeleteit would be better if you will find another employer who value you as a person and nanny, not an all around house hold help. I hope that you will be able to find another job and a good family.
get a new job. or take a nap.
ReplyDelete